Rivlin: Some Poles aided Nazis, 'We won't forget that'
At a Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony held by Athens Jewish community, Israeli president says Polish legislation downplaying Polish collaboration in Nazi atrocities 'a reminder that it is still beholden upon us to fight for the memory of the Holocaust, as it happened.'
Delivering his remarks at a Holocaust Remembrance Day Ceremony held by Athens Jewish community in the presence of Holocaust survivors, the Israeli president insisted that research into the Nazi extermination of European Jewry must be “free, open and sincere” but suggested that the Polish legislation, that has sparked an outcry in Israel, is an attempt to downplay the Polish role in abetting Hitler’s killing machine.
“Just as was said by the former Polish President, ‘One cannot fake history, nor rewrite it, nor hide the truth. Every crime, every offence must be condemned, denounced, must be examined and exposed,’ so he said,”
Rivlin quoted as he lashed out against the legislation.
Rivlin was more direct after stating that the Jewish people and the State of Israel and the entire world had a responsibility to ensure that the Holocaust is recognized for its horrors and atrocities.
“Also among the Polish nation there were those who aided the Nazis in their crimes. We will not forget that,” he promised, while simultaneously paying homage to those Poles who risked their own lives to save Jews.
“There were also others among them who struggled to save the lives of Jews and were recognized as Righteous Among the Nations,” Rivlin said.
“Our obligation as children of the Jewish nation, to the memory of our brothers and sisters who were murdered will always be above all other considerations. The duty to remember is a duty to recognize, to know, to try and understand what happened. To understand how the most terrible destruction in history was made possible. With the aim to ensure, Never Again,” he continued.
Noting seventy-three years had passed since the liberation of Auschwitz by the Red Army, Rivlin lamented that the Polish lower house of Parliament had approved the legislation, that carries with it a prison sentence for future offenders
“Seventy-three years have passed since the flames of the Auschwitz crematoria were put out. Auschwitz has become a symbol of the whole Jewish Holocaust … And yet, on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the lower house of the Polish Parliament passed a law to criminalize talk of ‘crimes of the Polish nation’, threatening custodial sentences those who use different expressions.”
The rising tide of anti-Semitism in Europe and revival of Nazi ideology spreading across the continent, Rivlin said, was also a cause for concern.
“We are witnessing the return of anti-Semitic, racist and neo-Nazi outlooks, many manifestations of anti-Semitism are once again reverberating around the world, radical movements are gaining strength, the new right-wing parties are winning electoral achievements with the use of anti-Semitic slogans,” the president listed.
“These things are happening not centuries after Auschwitz, and not in distant lands. They are happening now on European soil, and elsewhere. Jews feel less secure in their countries, there are those who are forced to hide their Jewishness—these are phenomena that should be denounced,” Rivlin emphasized.
Civilized nations and people, he said, could not give in to anti-Semitism, racism or xenophobia, all of which he said must be fought in all its forms.
“This is the time for public diplomacy and education! Against xenophobia, against racism, and against anti-Semitism,” he stated, while also warning his listeners that anti-Semitism was often disguised by anti-Israel rhetoric.
“Those who enter into an alliance with anti-Semites and anti-Semitism, those who adopt their language, have no part in the family of nations. We must firmly oppose those who hide their anti-Semitism under the guise of delegitimizing the State of Israel,” Rivlin said.
He further pointed out that anti-Semitic political parties could not be forgiven for their hatred based on pro-Israel declarations.
“As well as extreme right-wing parties that do not hide their anti-Semitic background, but repeatedly declare that they love the State of Israel. There is no such thing as loving Israelis and hating Jews, or loving Jews, but hating Israelis,” he added.
The event was attended by Holocaust survivors from the Greek Jewish community, among them Itzik Mizen, 90, who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau, Frances Hogo, 90, who survived Bergen Belsen, Fortunita Hananel Gani, 91, who survived Auschwitz-Birkenau, and David Moshe, 95, who survived Mauthausen.
Also attending was Greece’s Education and Religious Affairs Minister, and the Speaker of the Greek Parliament.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday night that Israel and Poland have agreed to hold talks seeking to resolve the uproar over proposed Polish legislation that would outlaw blaming Poland for any crimes committed during the Holocaust.
